Deep-Sea Exploration: Biology and Archaeology in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
12:30 pm AND 3:00 pm
FREE for everyone
Visitors took a rare behind-the-scenes look at an oceanographic research expedition in action during a live link with scientists who are exploring the wreck of the Portland, which lies on the seafloor of NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts Bay.
A team aboard the Research Vessel (R/V) Connecticut and the vessel Dawn Treader are conducting biological and archaeological surveys of some of the sanctuary’s most iconic shipwrecks and comparing these to life on natural hard-bottom habitats elsewhere on the bank. NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has teamed up with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Marine Imaging Technologies on this interdisciplinary expedition, which employs a variety of innovative marine technologies including Pixel, a cinema class remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and Rover, an ROV equipped to collect samples from the seafloor.
Alice Stratton, marine ecologist for the Sanctuary, was on hand to introduce the programs and answer questions.
Caption (above): Detailed sonar image of the steamship Portland. Image courtesy of NOAA/SBNMS and Applied Signal Technology, Inc. Caption (top banner): Steamship Portland. Image courtesy of stellwagen.noaa.gov. Caption (below): Advertisement for the Portland Steamship Company from the 1896 Pathfinder Railway Guide. Image courtesy of stellwagen.noaa.gov.